Life and Love
by Blaire023
Summary: COMPLETE. Chlex...Chloe's not sure how it happened or why he's with another woman. What is a girl to do when the man of her dreams marries someone else?
1. Life and Love

Disclaimer: None of the SV actors belong to me...well, except MR of course, but that's only in my wildest fantasies ;) A/N: I know I have another story out there 'Kisses' and it will be completed with the rest of the chapters this week. I just had to get this off my mind, I'm sure you all know how it is when that happens...  
----- "Sullivan, you staying late again?" her boss inquired of her.  
  
"Yeah, just a few more hours, really have to concentrate on this." Chloe replied not taking her eyes off the monitor.  
  
"And I thought you were just getting acquainted with your new office," Mr. Campbell smirked, referring to her new position at the Planet, "Don't stay too late, I like my reporters fresh and spunky in the morning."  
  
Chloe grinned at his remark. She had landed the position as an intern two years ago, the Fall after graduation. And of course, her biggest compliment as a referral came from a Mr Alexander Luthor qouting 'She's quite spunky' and a whole load of crap. She wasn't even really sure why she had listed him as a referral at the time, he was just the only person she knew who had enough authority to land her the job.  
  
Her boss exited her office and said 'Bye' on his way out. She leaned back in her chair to reread her artcle with fresh eyes. Yawning, she stretched her arms above her head and heard a voice clear it's throat from her doorway. Looking up, she was surprised, to say the least, at a handsome man in a black on black Armani tux. "Mr. Luthor, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Lex smiled and came into her office to take a seat across from her desk. "Well, hello Ms. Sullivan. Working late I presume?"  
  
"How very observant of you. And not that I'm not pleased to see you, it's been what? Atleast two years now? But I've learned that 'The Luthor's' always have an ulterior motive." Chloe said through her biggest smile.  
  
"Well, how very nice of you to notice, Ms. Sullivan. I actually do have a valid reason for coming here. But I also was curious as to how things have been coming along in your profession." Lex replied, returning her banter as he had so many years ago.  
  
Chloe looked at him through narrowed eyes. "And what exactly would you want with me?" Lex smirked and as calmly and collectively as possible got up from his seat. "You see, Ms. Sullivan, a wedding is in order at the Luthor estate and I was hoping, since we don't have a reporter, you'd gladly accept my offer of filling in for one."  
  
A flush crossed Chloe's face, "I won't even take that as an insult, although it oh so closely resembled one."  
  
"Well, I am going against my better judgement, believe you-me. You were definitely not my first choice, however Helen is smitten with your column, so..." Chloe cut him off in mid sentence putting up her hand, "So in order to keep the soon to be bride happy you decided to enlighten me with your news and your oh-so-sweet proposal?"  
  
A grin spread across Lex's lips and he regained his composure. "I'm sure you are aware that I am willing to pay your expenses."  
  
After a thought crossed her mind, "Well, hell Luthor, since you put it that way, NO!"  
  
Lex let his lips part a bit and he put his hands down on Chloe's desk to lean over to her, "I don't know what your problem is, but I am deadset on getting you to accept this task. Afterall you haven't been home in how long? So why not add the little bonus to it."  
  
"Can I ask you something? And I mean seriously ask you something..." Chloe said in her sweetest voice as she stood up from her chair and postioned her face inches from Lex's. Lex had only thoughts of post-summer graduation, how they had spent the whole summer together, when nothing physical had happened by August he had let her out of his grasp for her to move on. He had tried to win her heart after confessing his love for her, and despite his short break up with Helen during the time, Chloe had passed it off as a rebound relationship. Lex's mind slowly came back to the here and now. "Look, Chloe, whatever you have to ask, please make it professional."  
  
Chloe knew that in the brief pause he was thinking of what she had been thinking of. She had remembered that summer after graduation, she had shortly thereafter turned 18 and Lex's relationship with Dr Bryce had simmered down. How convenient it had been one night after coffee with the 'gang' that he walked her to her car and professed his undying love for her. They had dated and spent so much time together, falling into the routine of daily banter. Like clockwork they bickered and kissed to make up. She had wanted so bad to lose her virginity to him, to show him how much she loved him. But then August rolled around and Met U beckoned to her and Dr Bryce had come back. Lex had welcomed her in open arms and Chloe left, heart broken, she wanted to kill the sniveling little bitch the day she showed up at the estate, instead, she left. Not questioning the love Helen had for him. After all, she knew what she saw in him. She had felt it herself.  
  
"Why me? I mean, really Mr Luthor, I don't see why Clark can't do it. He's the reporter, I'm a columnist, remember?" Chloe asked sternly. She had, after getting the intern, decided that all the angst she held in the world would get put to better use, and instead of trying to get herself killed on the job, or killing other people on the job, she had decided becoming a columnist would be a cheaper form of therapy. 'Chloe's Coffee Talk' had become the biggest hit. It ranged from sex speeches to political debates. She loved her readers and she knew even the ones who sent hate mail, somehow loved her too.  
  
Lex glared at her, "Chloe, call me Lex, and I know you still have a little reporter in you. Plus, Clark is the best man. He can't sit on the sidelines and take notes when he's in the wedding."  
  
Chloe backed away from her desk. "Sorry, Lex, I can't do it. I just.I just can't. Send Helen my regards." She said shakily.  
  
Lex saw in her for the first time what he'd been looking for for the past two years. Everytime he saw her picture in the paper above the column he'd stare into her eyes. Hoping to find a glimmer of hope. And now all he saw in them were a sadness he couldn't cure. 'Dammit, Lex, don't do this to yourself, she's a big girl, she'll deal.' And with that inward thought he turned and strolled out of the room.  
  
Chloe let out a sigh as the door to her office was pulled shut behind Lex. She sat on the edge of her desk staring out at the night lights of the city. She screamed at herself silently. Why did she still have pent up emotions for him? What was it that was just so undeniable that her love for him had to creep up on her like that? 'Dammit, Chloe, don't do this to yourself, you're a big girl, you'll deal.' 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
So within two months she had been to a beautiful wedding of a Dr Helen Bryce and A Mr Alexander Luthor. She had covered the wedding free of charge. But when it came down to it, it was simply because she couldn't write the piece. She called upon Clark and he wrote it with her. He watched her cry and slink away from him. She curled up in his lap and drenched a patch of his shirt. He saw her breaking away from everything.  
  
"You loved him, didn't you?" Clark asked her one day.  
  
She took a lonely drag off her cigar and nodded, "Which means I should stop moping and be happy for him."  
  
Clark just hugged and let her lean into him. He loved Chloe. He loved her more than life itself. But he couldn't be what she needed. He couldn't be her Lex.  
  
*~*  
  
"Chloe, I love you, you know that right?" Clark had called out to her from the upstairs loft.  
  
"Yes Clark, I know that." She had been sitting reading the paper on the couch. They had been roommates since she had attended the wedding. Clark had insisted on living together because she was such a wreck. She knew it though and hey, why not have a super hero live with you. It could be fun. He could light off the fireplace with the blink of an eye.  
  
"Then put your coffee down and turn to the middle of the paper."  
  
She flipped open the paper to the middle crease and spit her coffee out all over the page. She blinked her eyes wide open.  
  
"Luthor-Bryce marriage enolled" the title read. Beneath it were two shots of them. One holding hands, both looking forlorn and the other of their wedding. The same look plastered on their faces in both pictures.  
  
Clark was sitting up in the loft of the apartment, it was his favorite room, maybe because it reminded him of Smallville and his fortress of solitude as Chloe always joked. He jumped over the railing landing on his feet. This used to scare the crap out of Chloe until he held her in his arms and did it with her. Since then it had become a daily routine. Who needed a fireman's pole when you could just float yourself down.  
  
He looked at her with sparkling eyes. "So?" he said clearly giddy.  
  
"So?" Chloe eyed him with a straight face.  
  
"Well, go see him..make it all better.tell him how you feel."  
  
Chloe's eye twinkled just a bit and she jumped up and down clapping her hands. "He's not married, he's not married."  
  
Clark laughed at her and made her stop. "Don't hurt yourself."  
  
Chloe stopped jumping and threw herself into Clark's arms. "oh, Clarkbar. I wonder what he'll say."  
  
Clark grinned, "They'll probably say, 'Oh, god, look at that hussy all over that newly divorced man.'"  
  
Chloe smacked his arm and winced from his man-o-steel biceps. "Clark, you should really learn how not to flex."  
  
"And not show off these guns?" Chloe snorted at his comment with laughter.  
  
"You are such a dork, Clark Kent."  
  
Clark smiled his big dumb doofy smile. "I know," he winked. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Chloe walked up the stone steps to the door of the mansion. She shifted uncomfortably, the last time she was here it was to attend the wedding of a man she loved and hated at once. Visions of the wedding filled her mind. She remembered she wore black. Clark had tried to talk her out of it, it was a wedding, you just didn't wear black to a wedding. But she didn't care about the superstitions, she was there to mourn a past relationship, not celebrate this new one before her.  
  
Lex had looked at her on and off all night and when he danced with his new bride he couldn't help but look at her. She danced with Clark and hid her face inhis jacket to ward off the tears. A few times she imagined herself dancing with Lex, but it wasn't the same. She wasn't the one in the designer bridal gown. She wasn't the one dancing with the groom who happened to be the man of her dreams. Chloe stood there, a 20 year old virgin. There had been only one man she loved and one man she had been willing to give herself to, and he hadn't wanted her. He hadn't said those exact words, but he hadn't been willing to wait for her. Three short months and they were over. The I love you's he whispered into her neck during hot make out sessions and the endless baubles of jewelry she laughed at. She didn't want jewelry. She didn't want his money. She had only wanted one thing. To have enough balls to tell him she loved him too. And she hadn't. She couldn't bring herself to do it. The morning she woke up, the day before she'd be leaving for Met U she had decided to do it. It was something she had worked up all summer for. And when she opened the door to Helen, standing there with a tear streaked face asking if Lex was home, she had given up. First it was Clark, and he ditched her for Lana. And now it was Lex and he'd ditch her for Helen. So before she even woke Lex up she packed and left. Leaving Helen in the living room fending for herself. She hadn't seen Lex for two years until he came to her about the wedding. And now he was divorced. She should be relieved. But she wasn't. She stood here now on his front step, finger inches from the bell. 'Just push it.' She said to herself. And with a little more encouragement and fifteen minutes of dead silence she lunged her finger up against the bell. 'RUN!' she screamed inside herself. But her feet stay planted.  
  
"Hello, how may I help you?" the butler inquired.  
  
"My name is Ms. Sullivan and I would like to speak with Mr. Luthor." All confidence appeared and she was shocked that she had mustered up enough to say just that.  
  
"Do you have an appointment?" he asked her quizzically.  
  
"Of course." She flat out lied to him.  
  
"Follow me, the master is in his office." She smirked at the word master. The butler walked with much pride to the office of one Mr Luthor and knocked lightly but firmly.  
  
"WHAT?!" a booming voice came from behind the door. The butler winced and gave her a 'god-he'll-kill-us-both' look. She patted his arm before he could say anything and said quietly to him, "You can leave, I can handle him myself." The butler nodded and scurried away.  
  
She knocked once again. Harder and louder than the previous one. "I SAID WHAT? JESUS DON'T YOU PEOPLE LISTEN?!"  
  
Chloe opened the door and saw Lex sitting sprawled out on the couch. His head leaned against the back of it and his eyes closed tightly. One hand rubbing his eyes and the other had a death grip on a glass filled with an amber colored liquid. She walked over in front of him, not making a sound compliments of the thick rug beneath her heels. She firmly placed one hand on her hip and sternly said, "Alexander Joseph Luthor, what crawled up your ass and died?"  
  
His head shot up and the glass of liquor fell to the ground. "What the fuck are you doing here?" was all he could muster up to say in a voice of pure disbelief. She grinned and sat down on the table in front of him, her legs crossed and her elevated foot rested between his legs on the couch.  
  
"I came to claim what's mine." She said matter of factly.  
  
His eyebrow shot up and he leaned back again closing his eyes. "I'm not in the mood for games. Leave." He felt the air around him change and sensed her getting up. Hence the foot leaving the couch. He let out a hard sigh and was about to tell her to come back when he felt a hardness press against him. He closed his eyes tighter. 'She is not straddling me.' He told himself. He opened one eye and saw her face inches from his. 'Oh, god, she is straddling me.'  
  
She took his hand in hers and placed it on her breast. "Do you feel that?"  
  
He nodded with a haze of lust sweeping over his face. She had come here for one reason, to make him feel all better. She was going to grant him a pity fuck and be done with it. Afterall if she didn't take advantage of his situation then she may remain a virgin her whole life. This was the man she wanted to lose it to. And she had had her mind set on that for two years. "My heart, do you feel it?"  
  
Lex's eyes cleared and he smiled. He remembered this. The first time he told her he loved her he had put her hand to his chest and said the same thing. "My heartbeat, it says your name." He pulled her down to him and kissed her hard. Harder than he would have like to, but she reciprocated and felt him grow hard against her.  
  
She absentmindedly rocked into him and his hands grabbed at her hips pushing her down firmly on him. She pulled back from the kiss and let out a low moan. "I've missed you, Lex."  
  
He smiled at her. A true genuine smile and kissed her lightly on the lips. She nuzzled her face into his neck and he felt her tongue sweeping across his skin. He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "God, Helen." Chloe's head shot up and she jumped off of him.  
  
He gave her a confused look. "What?"  
  
A tear strolled down her cheek and she walked backwards to the door. "I can't believe this."  
  
"What?" he sat up straight and looked at her intently. She had killed his buzz and he couldn't understand what she was talking about. The tears came quicker and he stood and walked towards her.  
  
"You.just, you just said her name." Her hands flew up in rage around her and he took one of her wrists in her hand.  
  
"What are you talking about?" He honestly appeared to her as though he hadn't a clue.  
  
"You called me Helen!" She slapped him hard across his face and wrenched her wrist from his hand. "I can't believe I just came here to tell you everything I didn't when we were actually together. How much I love you and how long I've waited for you, and." her voice strained and her face paled at her next words. "And you called me Helen." She finished with a hushed broken voice.  
  
He stared at her dumbfoundedly. "God, Chloe, I'm so sorry." He moved towards her to And she backed into the wall. She stared at him and then slapped him again.  
  
He stepped back and she took the chance to run from the room. When she made it to her car she leaned her head on the steering wheel and let the tears flow rapidly. "I am so stupid." She said to herself quietly. She didn't notice when Lex got into her passenger seat. 


	4. The End

Chapter 4:  
  
"Chloe you need to understand."  
  
"DON'T!" she screamed at him. He flinched from her tone of voice and finally looked at her. Her eyes screamed at him silently and he saw the hurt he caused. The pain that shone through and the anger that glinted. He sat back quietly. She leaned forward to resume resting her head on the steering wheel.  
  
"Chloe." He said smoothly. "I have to say something."  
  
She shook her head where it lay. "No, I was stupid, you need to go. And if you even so much as try to explain to me what just happened on your part I'm pretty sure I will kill you."  
  
His eyes teared up. "Honestly I have no idea why I said her name. I don't know if I was confused or if she was just on my mind. I can't just let you cry, Chloe."  
  
Her head shot up and she turned to look at him. They were bloodshot from tears and her makeup was smeared down her face. "Why not? You let me cry for the last two years and all of a sudden you have a conscience?"  
  
"You left me! Don't turn this around on me. I woke up one morning to find you gone and Helen sitting in the living room. I didn't leave you and I had no plans on doing it so now you're berating me for letting you go? What was I supposed to do, Chloe? Was I supposed to follow you to school? Was I supposed to hunt you down in Metropolis? Tell me what I was supposed to do because I have beaten myself up for it over the course of many years."  
  
"I left you because you were using me." She replied in a hushed voice. Lex protested but she rattled on. "All those I love you's that were meant for her. Those kisses we shared that were meant for her lips. The nights I spent harmlessly wrapped in your arms, arms that were meant to hold her. I loved you Lex. I woke up that morning determined to tell you that and she was just there. Crying and looking as though her heart had been trampled on. I left for you. For both of you. For me."  
  
He looked at her and saw the pain overwhelming in her eyes. "I didn't love her. I loved you. I told you that because I truly did. You walked out on me. You left me alone. I didn't even start dating her until a year later. I gave you a year to come back to me and you didn't. Why didn't you come back to me? Huh, Chloe? Explain that one." He sat back smugly knowing that the words he spoke were hurtful but he was determined as all hell to get some answers finally.  
  
"I did come back. I came back and she answered the door. When I asked to speak to you she told me it was best if I never came back. She told me you had moved on. So I left. I had no reason not to believe her. I figured all along I was a rebound, that's why I never slept with you. And I continued to let my love grow for you over the course of the time we spent apart. All the while continuing to hate you all the same. That's why I waited for you, Lex." She barely let out that last sentence. "That's why I waited for you." She said more firm and watched a confused expression cross his face before her words registered.  
  
"You mean, you're still." she nodded. "Because you were waiting for me?" she nodded again. The thoughts that ran wildly through his mind wouldn't seem to shut up no matter how hard he begged them to. "Get out of the car, Chloe." He said firmly.  
  
She shook her head. "I can't. All this time I hoped and prayed that maybe, just maybe you really did love me and when I came back here and you looked so happy to have me back. You smiled, Lex. I love that smile." Her face began to soften as she touched his face where her hand had struck it earlier. He put his hand over hers. "And then you said her name. I'm not her, Lex. I can't be her. I can't put on a pretty face and tell you everything's always going to be alright." Her eyes looked as if they'd forfeit any time now.  
  
"I don't want her, Chloe. If anything she filled the void where you had been. I filed for divorce. She wasn't you. After I saw you at the wedding I just couldn't look at her the same. It was different when you two weren't in the same room. I couldn't be with her when all I wanted was to go to you." He paused to study her face. She looked as though she was going throw up or kiss him. He took a chance on the latter. Her lips felt softer than ever and she kissed him back. He let the tears he was holding roll down his cheeks. 'This is what I wanted.' He thought silently. Chloe pulled back from him. "Now what?" Chloe sighed leaning back against the car window.  
  
"Now we start over." Lex grabbed her hand in his and kissed her palm before turning it over and kissed the rest of her hand. "Let's start from the beginning."  
  
She nodded with an unsure look on her face.  
  
"Chloe?"  
  
"Yes, Lex?"  
  
"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"  
  
A thin smile crossed her lips. "I'd like that." She said quietly before kissing him again.  
  
The end!!! 


End file.
